Find Educational Supplies
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3
The children of Kabondo require various educational supplies such as books, pens, crayons/pencils, and so forth. Please find and contact organizations or individuals that can donate these items to the 120 children.

Dear Barb, Erick
There is anorganisation in the Netherlands that donates books in English for children. The name is Biblionef (www.biblionef.nl)
A very important starting point is that Biblionef distributes exclusively new children's books.
I will contact them to check if Kabondo qualifies, and will get back to you
take care!
Claudia
Hi Claudia,
Thank you! In the resource section for this task is a list of organizations that donate books. It is just a brief list, but may be a starting point.
Barb
Hi!
I know of at least three Nabuur villages (Rwahofu, Wambaale and one in Zambia) who have got books from Biblionef. In at least two cases this was done by contacting them and providing the information requested at http://www.biblionef.org/index.php?id=78
I know they know about Nabuur as, when I was communicating with them for Rwahofu, they told me.
They don't charge for shipping.
Mary
Hi Everyone,
Eric has been in contact with Biblionef and they have agreed to send books before the end of the year! This is good news. Now lets work on getting some other items for the orphans.
Barb
Hi everyone!
I'm Gaël, neighbour since yesterday for Kabondo, and, certainly because I'm working in industry, my first idea to find some free eductional items was to check if some companies or some huge supermarkets have some items which "cannot be sold" because of defects which do not involve a bad functionality (bad design,...).
Moreover, at the end of the year, most of companies must have stocks as low as posible to optimize the annual accounts. That's why some industries could perhaps donate more easily as usually...
These are for instance only hypothesis and I'm just trying to check if we can have some chances to get some free items.
I let you know if industrial people could help us.
Regards,
Gaël
Hello Gaël and Welcome!
Thank you for the idea. All ideas and suggestions are welcome. Please look into this idea and let us know how it progresses.
Barb
Hello Im wondering if any supplies have been obtained so far?
Hi Tia,
Welcome to Kabondo!
Regarding educational supplies, some have been obtained for a few children. Actually, Eric just sent me a note saying he purchased uniforms and school items for 10 orphans. There are over 100 orphans though.
Regarding Biblionef, they have not yet sent the books they promised, but they may have been delayed because of the post-election violence in Kenya.
Pencils, crayons, writing books, uniforms, back packs and text books are still needed. Reading books are as well.
Gaël mentioned contacting businesses that are getting rid of stock at the end of the year. Would anyone be able to assist with contacting a few? Or maybe there are other ideas?
Regards,
Barb
Hi Barb
If you haven't heard any more from Biblionef if may be worth you/Eric emailing them again to ask what is happening. I have had contact with them for another project in the past and have found that they are helpful and do reply to emails.
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thank you. I think it would be good to follow-up again. The situation in Kenya may have caused some delays, but now that things have returned to normal, it would be good to see where things stand.
Barb
I came across this and thought it may be of interest
The Pencil Project
http://www.thepencilproject.com
They may be able to link Kabondo with a group who can send pencils, and possibly other education-related supplies, to the children. And once linked with a group, there is always the possibility that this could become a more lasting partnership...
About
http://www.thepencilproject.com/aboutus.html
Questions page http://www.thepencilproject.com/resources.html includes
Contact details are at http://www.thepencilproject.com/contactus.html
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thanks again!
I just sent off an email and will see what happens!
Barb
Hello Mary,
I have heard back from the Pencil Project and they are willing to assist here. They have asked me to provide a bit of information and I have asked them to clarify a few questions I had. I will keep everyone posted!
Barb
Hi Barb
That's great news :-D
Mary
Hi Everyone,
Still no news yet from the Pencil Project. The school year is winding down in North America, so it may be some time before they find a match.
What other ways can we think of to support the education of the children? They are in need of supplies as well as uniforms. Eric has managed to maximize funds in the past by having the uniforms made locally. This dramatically decreases the costs.
Are there other organizations we can contact? Any ideas?
Barb